Method and apparatus for opposing deformity, displacement, and expulsion of the ocular tissues during open eye surgery

Apparatus for opposing deformity, displacement, and expulsion of ocular tissures during eye surgery of the types in which a cut is present through the ocular wall comprised of:

• (a) a chamber defining an enclosed air space having an aperture the size of a designated surgical field of the eye;
• (b) coupling means for attaching the aperture edges to the border of the designated surgical field of the eye;
• (c) pressurizing means for controlling the level of air pressure at or above atmospheric pressure in the enclosed space;
• (d) surgical access means for the surgeon, surgical assistants, and instruments to have access to the designated surgical field so that surgery can be performed while the enclosed space is pressurized at or above atmospheric pressure, and for the anesthesiologist to have access to the patient's airway which lies outside the pressurized space;
• (e) eye stabilizing means for supporting the eye against the air pressure on the designated surgical field;
• (f) eye shielding means for preventing said chamber from indenting that part of the external eye wall lying outside the border of the designated surgical field;
• and
• (g) head stabilizing means for preventing movement of the patient's head and eye against said chamber, said coupling means, said eye stabilizing means, and said eye shielding means.